It is even cheaper to substitute hamburger and make hamburger stew. I am 71 years old and have never used anything but hamburger. You crumble it up and brown it and go from there. My late Mother taught me this when I was a child.

The stew meat sold in supermarkets is always tough, and cooks up very dry and stringy. Besides, you never know what you're really getting when you buy something labeled "stew meat." Clearly, it's the toughest cuts of leftover scraps. However, the tender, buttery goodness of chuck, just can't be beat. It is the workhorse of my kitchen.

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If you've got a meat grinder or a mixer attachment, grind it up for the juiciest hamburgers you've ever tasted. I wait and buy chuck steaks, or roasts, when they drop to the sale price of $1.99 lb. I stash them in my freezer. In my opinion, it is the most versatile and useful cut of meat on the steer. I use it for everything from Beef Bourguignonne to empanadas and chili. But, we might want to keep this quiet. If they find out how much we like it, they might raise the price!